Richie Berrington and Michael Leask shared a match-winning partnership for Scotland as they beat Namibia in Barbados to boost their hopes of progressing to the T20 World Cup.
After impressing with the bat in their opening match against England, the Scots cruised to victory in Barbados, chasing their target of 156 with five wickets and nine balls to spare.
Things looked dicey when Matthew Cross fell in weight at 73 for four, but captain Berrington and Leask took the bull by the horns by putting on 74 from the next 42 balls.
Leask hit four sixes in his knock of 35 and Berrington was unbeaten on 47, finishing in style as he bludgeoned David Wiese all the way before punching the air with joy.
The result leaves Scotland three points behind, meaning England could find themselves under pressure if they fail to beat Australia on Saturday. live at 6 p.m. Sky Sports Cricket And Sky Sports main event.
Brad Currie had previously excelled with the ball, with two for 16 from four demanding overs.
Brad Wheal got Scotland off to the perfect start, swinging the new ball dangerously and having JP Kotze caught at midwicket with his third delivery.
Currie also landed an early shot and Chris Sole recovered after seeing three of his first four balls disappear over the ropes to open his account as Namibia reached 48 for three in a lively powerplay.
Chris Greaves dismissed Malan Kruger in the eighth as Scotland continued to crumble, but Gerhard Erasmus proved difficult to resolve.
He held the innings together, mustering a steady supply of boundaries off the spinners to even the scales. He reached his half-century with a strike off just 30 balls, sweeping Leask for six over long-off.
The Aberdonian exacted instant revenge moments later, with Cross completing the coup de grace. There were 42 runs and four more wickets in the last five overs, with Currie and Wheal neatly lined up at the death.
Scotland captain Richie Berrington, left, and batting partner Chris Greaves celebrate after beating Namibia by five wickets
Scotland’s response benefited from an early boost with eight wide runs from Ruben Trumpelmann, a change of fortune for the left-armer who took wickets with his first two balls against Oman. But runs from the start were harder to come by, with the total slowly reaching 25 for one after five overs.
Michael Jones, so impressive in the washout against England, finally came alive in the sixth over as he unloaded two fours and a six, but the introduction of Erasmus changed the game for the second time. Jones (26) was caught and Brandon McMullen (19) was left stumped thanks to sloppy footwork.
The required rate had risen to almost 10% when Berrington and Leask took action.
Two big overs effectively settled matters, 13 off Tangeni Lungameni and 19 off veteran Wiese in the 17th over, including two big hits from Leask.
Leask threw Trumpelmann 100 yards on the big screen before breaking through, but Berrington secured the victory by powering Wiese to the ground for the decisive six.
And after?
With three points so far in Group B, Scotland comes bottom of the rankings, Oman in North Sound, Antigua on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Namibia faces Australia in their third match of the tournament at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Watch every match from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports, leading up to the final on Sunday June 29.
